Wednesday 14 October 2009
Our guest speaker was Brian Lawrenson, a travel writer, who spoke to us about “Travelling the Silk Road”. Brian was introduced by Joe Saad.
Brian and his wife have travelled to seventy countries. He advised us that his wife was happy to go on these trips as “if you go overseas you don’t have to do the cooking”.
Brian informed us that the Silk Road ends in Zian which is the old capital of China. From there the goods would be transported down the river networks for distribution. Marco Polo travelled along the Silk Road in the 1280’s when the Mongols ruled the area. He was trading Saffron which was more valuable than gold.
Brian also went to Istanbul and found it to be a magical place which straddles two continents. He advised us that there are three major mosques in the city. One of these which is over one thousand years old and ten storeys high has been a church and a mosque. It is now a museum.
Brian also travelled to Damascus one of the oldest cities in the world. Whilst there he saw some amazing whirling dervish. He also went to the Spice Markets which he greatly enjoyed. There are hundreds of varieties for sale and the vendors are very knowledgeable.
Brian met up with many Taliban on his travels. He told us that he had grown a full beard to fit in with locals. His wife had to fully enclose herself in appropriate clothing. Brian liked the rule that the wife had to walk two steps behind the husband.
Brian’s second journey took him to Beijing. He informed us that two thousand years ago it was a city of 400,000 people and it was the pinnacle of world sophistication. He told us of his trip to the night markets where he ate one of the barbecued scorpions on offer. Whilst in China Brian also visited the Great Wall of China, which is 5,000 kilometres in length, and the terracotta warriors. Brian described his visit to an ancient monastery where 800 monks were being taught. He also described visiting a grape growing area in the middle of a desert which relied on water from a 40,000 kilometre long underground canal system.
Brian told us of his visit to the mosque at Bukhara and the incredible tile work both inside and outside the building. A photo of the mosque is used as the cover photo on Brian’s book that he wrote about these journeys.
Brian described to us his trip into Pakistan by public bus. The bus took six hours to travel about two hundred kilometres as the road was very rough. Brian saw the Calash people whom he found to be fascinating. It is believed that they may be descendents of Alexander the Great.In conclusion Brian told us his hobby of collecting the great variety of hats that he comes across in his travels. This could be the subject of another interesting talk. Brian was thanked by Ray Wilson.